Occupy representation and democratise prefiguration: Speaking for others in global justice movements

This paper seeks an articulation between Marxist and anarchist approaches to representation in social movements. A generalised dismissal of representational politics leaves power with too many places to hide and sets unnecessary limits to political imagination. Prefigurative politics should not excl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Capital & class 2016-02, Vol.40 (1), p.19-36
Main Author: Teivainen, Teivo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activists
Analysis
Anarchism
Bias
Decision making
Democracy
Dismissal
Imagination
Justice
Latin America
Marxism
Marxist analysis
Occupy movement
Political activism
Political aspects
Political movements
Political representation
Politics
Power
Social activism
Social aspects
Social classes
Social justice
Social movements
Socialism
Transnationalism
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Summary:This paper seeks an articulation between Marxist and anarchist approaches to representation in social movements. A generalised dismissal of representational politics leaves power with too many places to hide and sets unnecessary limits to political imagination. Prefigurative politics should not exclude political representation, as the exclusion can imply a class bias. The paper explores two different paths beyond strict assumptions of horizontality. Using mostly Latin American examples, a distinction is made between more classical state-centric paths and less theorised alternatives of non-state representation. Finally, the article approaches global democratisation from a non-state-centric perspective, tentatively called transnational libertarian socialism.
ISSN:0309-8168
2041-0980
DOI:10.1177/0309816815627387